The X Factor will not return in 2020

[Leopold]

I could never understand how the P!nk singer didn't put her foot down about not doing a Pink song, or just not do the show.

Yes they did her dirty but surely it would have struck her as ridiculous to say "I'm trying to get away from the Pink thing" and then launch into "So What!".

1. I imagine in practice "putting your foot down" isn't an option;
2. Are they paid to do the show? Either way, exposure and the chance at stardom is hard to turn down;
3. There might have been a whole lot more else said/done that was edited out?

 

[Matgo]

Yeah, it's important not to underestimate the whole process which got her to that audition. I know Zoe and she was done dirty.

Like I said nearly all the experiences I've heard have been horrendous.

 

[Mr Brightside]

If you ever bump into the various contestants on the Pride circuit so few of them have anything good to say about their treatment.

The amount of stories that were covered up during its heyday shows the clout it had with the media.

I’d be interested in hearing.

 

[Mr Brightside]

I think for me the most uncomfortable audition was Ceri. The fact that this was her fourth audition and the producers kept allowing her to come back. And on top of that the Jaws theme wasn’t very nice.

 

[Matgo]

Her family claims that producers harassed her to get her to return to the show, including offering expenses and sending backing tracks of songs they thought she should sing.

She'd lost her husband very suddenly to a brain haemorrhage and was incredibly vulnerable.

 

[Mr Brightside]

I wouldn’t be surprised if the guy from Popstars the rivals who ended up in PHIXX was asked to audition in 2008 to create some tension between him and Cheryl. They did the same thing to Britney when Don Philip auditioned on the US version.

 

[Mike]

They did the same thing to Britney when Don Philip auditioned on the US version.

That was painful and embarrassing. His audition was dreadful and Britney looked like she was praying for the ground to open up and swallow her whole.

 

[Thecrispyair]

Thank goodness

 

[Matgo]

Don Philip claims:

“Backstage, I’d talked to the producers about what was my secret was. And I mentioned that my secret was I was gay, but I really didn’t want to talk about it on the show. So, minutes later when I got on stage, L.A. Reid said, ‘What’s the secret? What’s the secret?’ over and over again. And I had to say it,” Philip claimed. “I just felt like they were going to say it so I felt like I needed to say it first. And, I was just so emotionally distraught, I couldn’t pull it together to actually sing.

 

[AcerBenII]

Don Philip claims:

Oh that was sooo awkward. They made it look like he'd come on the show to come out to Britney, like she gave a shit anyway.

 

[Shockbox]

I’d be interested in hearing.

Me too.

 

[Matgo]

Without breaching confidentiality it's difficult but there are plenty of stories of manipulation and putting the entertainment show and the show's reputation above the well being of acts. There is one story in particular that was covered up, which is out there but inappropriate to discuss in detail here.

 

[Martyn]

Without breaching confidentiality it's difficult but there are plenty of stories of manipulation and putting the entertainment show and the show's reputation above the well being of acts. There is one story in particular that was covered up, which is out there but inappropriate to discuss in detail here.

Is that the one that happened in Series 6?

 

[Matgo]

Is that the one that happened in Series 6?

No, another one - I'd forgotten about the series 6 one though.

 

[Mr Brightside]

My DMs are open

 

[Shockbox]

My DMs are open

as are mine!

 

[mi|kshake]

^Same!

 

[NuhdeensPassport]

I'd be interested in hearing too.

 

[Martyn]

No, another one - I'd forgotten about the series 6 one though.

I'm very intrigued about what the other one is

 

[Mvnl]

I feel like that audition actually was the beginning of the end for the show. We'd never really seen an audition quite like that where the producers so shamelessly & ruthlessly exploited a contestant. They made her out to be crazy but she came out completely believable and likeable and I think it really backfired on them. For me, when I saw that audition back in the day, I never quite enjoyed the show again after that.

What was once fun to laugh and poke fun at showed a real disturbing reality and it was never the same watching the bad auditions after that; always had a super dark tone and vibe. To this day, I'm so surprised they actually aired her audition because she exposed the show and the producers for what it truly was. That "fun" veneer was stripped away.

That really was the judges gaslighting a contestant and it wasn't cute.